(Untitled)

[blowupthefloats]

Walking through the door with a cold case box tucked under one arm, John Munch is glad to see Milliways where he expected the squad room of the 1-6 to be. The idea of going through an old case from the comfort of a corner booth is much more appealing than sitting at his desk

Comments

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

There's going to be a long, quiet stare at the board. Eventually Ellen says, "I could really just use some whiskey, I think."

[blowupthefloats]

Munch looks up from a folder he'd just pulled out of the box, nods. "Coming right up.

How're you doing, Ellen?"

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

Ellen shakes her head. "It's been busy back home," she says, "and I'm- I'm not sure I want to go back just.... I may be here for a bit."

[blowupthefloats]

"Hey, everyone's entitled to a vacation once in a while," he agrees, setting her whiskey down in front of her.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Thank you," Ellen says gratefully, and pushes a handful of caps across the counter. "I might need another one in a bit. Um. How have you been?"

[blowupthefloats]

He nods, accepting the payment. He's been there before. "No problem."

Ellen's question draws a sigh, and a glance at the open box on the floor (she probably won't be able to see it, as it's on the other side of the bar and all).

"I've been okay. My captain's got me looking into a cold case that's got some similarities to another case two of my co-workers are working on right now. I'm hoping we don't have a serial on our hands."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

Ellen winces. She's not entirely clear on the definition, but she gets his general meaning. "Good luck?" she offers tentatively. "That... doesn't sound like an easy thing to sort out."

[blowupthefloats]

"It isn't," Munch agrees. "And I'm really hoping that these two cases turn out to be unrelated. It's bad enough thinking of a perp doing something this horrible to a kid, let alone more than one."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Oh. Oh dear."

She glances down at her glass for a moment.

"If it's- if it's anything like Andale... I can understand that."

[blowupthefloats]

Grimacing slightly, Munch slides the folder back down into the box. He can wait until later to depress himself.

"Something tells me I probably don't want to know what 'Andale' is..."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"A- a town where they-" Ellen grimaces. "They didn't have any animals. And no farms. But they had meat. A lot of meat. All the time."

[blowupthefloats]

"Oh, dear God." The statement is murmured, practically whispered; Munch fully understood Ellen's insinuation, and the mere thought is enough to turn his stomach.

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Andale isn't there any more," Ellen says. "Two children and a grandfather who wanted to live a better life got out. The rest of Andale isn't there any more."

She looks down for a moment.

"That's... usually what I think of, when I think of horrible things you don't want to have happen twice."

[blowupthefloats]

Munch nods; that does help, in a way. It'll hopefully cut down on any potential nightmares about the place, anyway.

"Good...that's good."

[aaaaaaaagh_sky]

"Sorry about that." Ellen ducks her head momentarily. "I probably shouldn't've mentioned it. You've- you've got enough as it is."

[blowupthefloats]

"It's all right," he reassures her. "After all, what kind of bartender would I be if you couldn't talk to me about your troubles?"